Debrecen confirm Uefa match-fixing probe

By Joe Doyle

The Hungarian club have stated that their goalkeeper Vukasin Poleksic was approached ahead of a Champions League tie with the English side, after being banned by the governing body

Hungarian side Debrecen have confirmed that their 2009 Champions League tie against Liverpool was one of the matches investigated by Uefa after their goalkeeper Vukasin Poleksic was approached ahead of the game by match-fixers.

Debrecen stated that Poleksic was asked in 2010 about "two international matches" by Uefa, which the club have confirmed were against the Premier League side and Fiorentina.

"The two matches were the away match at Liverpool and at home against Fiorentina," the club said in a statement.

Poleksic completed a two-year ban last June after Uefa took action for his failure to report a corruption plot, with the charge relating to the Fiorentina game. The keeper initially appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but was unsuccessful.

Both England's FA and Liverpool where unaware of the suspicions surrounding the match, in which Dirk Kuyt scored from a rebound after Poleksic parried Fernando Torres' shot in a 1-0 win.

"In course of the proceedings by the [Uefa] Disciplinary Committee, it was established that no bribery, betting fraud or the influencing of the match took place regarding any [Debrecen] matches," the Hungarian club added.